Paracelsus, Philippus Aureolus, << `par` uh SEHL suhs, fih LIHP uhs aw REE oh luhs >> (1493-1541), was a Swiss physician who introduced the use of drugs made from minerals. His drugs included such minerals as sulfur, mercury, and antimony. Paracelsus challenged the ancient Greek and Roman belief that disease is caused by an imbalance of body humors (fluids). He argued that each illness has a specific, external cause.
Paracelsus was the first physician to treat disease with moderate doses of minerals that had been detoxified—that is, they had their poisons removed. He also became the first physician to correctly describe chorea, silicosis, congenital syphilis, and tuberculosis.
Many of Paracelsus’s theories were criticized, however, because they were based in part on unscientific principles associated with alchemy, astrology, and mysticism (see Alchemy ). Paracelsus argued that disease is caused by external factors that take possession of part of the body. But he also believed that spiritual forces were among the causes of disease and that he, as a spiritualist, could control them with the use of minerals and herbs.
Paracelsus was born in November or December 1493 at Einsiedeln, Switzerland. His original name was Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim. He received his early education from his father, a physician. He died on Sept. 24, 1541.
